Reflecting on 5 years at WCVB

This month I celebrate my fifth anniversary at WCVB. That’s 5 years at Channel 5.

In those five years I’ve covered three Super Bowls, two presidential elections, one World Series, an explosive natural gas disaster, a public transportation system in crisis, marijuana legalization, widespread police scandals, massive protests, riots and a worldwide pandemic. No biggie.

And on this special anniversary, I’ve asked myself: What’s the right way to measure the success of these years and the impact they’ve had on my life?

One measure of my achievements, set out as a goal in my original blog post at WCVB, is through awards. The digital content team has received 5 regional and 3 national awards over the past five years, and that’s in addition to being a part of numerous Station of the Year-type honors.

Other competitive measurements that are helpful in this ego trip include our share of the internet traffic and social media conversation. Among our tracked competitive websites we have a dominant, consistent lead over all legacy competitors.

When I arrived, we were losing on social media to a competitor who was throwing money at the platforms. Once their money dried up, however, their growth halted and we’ve now spent years as an engagement leader by sticking to organic growth strategies and prioritizing content quality.

Less easily quantifiable, but no less gratifying, are the skills and tasks I’ve been able to teach to my team — and what I have learned from them in return. Today, our team is doing work with data, graphics and video that were not part of the playbook back in 2015.

Another measure is to look at ways my work has changed the fabric of our newsroom and company.

I’m proud to say that one of the employees I’ve hired has been promoted within the company, another is in his third year with us and several of the aspiring journalists I hired as intern coordinator went on to to become professionals within our newsroom or elsewhere in the organization.

My proposals have also shaped new facilities within the building, which I hope will be used for years to come. I worked on the layout of the digital area in the newsroom and developed plans for how to use it safely amid the pandemic. I’ve also been gratified to see the podcasting and live streaming spaces that I proposed become a reality.

Lastly, I can also reflect on how much has changed in my life since starting this job.

At the time of my first blog post from WCVB, I was living out of a suitcase in a hotel, searching for an apartment in my spare time and hoping my girlfriend would also find a job nearby.

Today we’re married and we have a playful, curious little boy who just celebrated his first birthday.

So, here’s to the next five years, and to figuring out what success looks like in 2025!